Is this reactor too a little too much for my 10gl Hagen CO2 Kit?

ramp length

I think if you shop around you'll find some site that remarks upon the total ramp length of that. something like 28 cm, or 25 inches, I've forgotten. Anyhow, when I read that I measured the ramp length of the Hagen diffuser.... the exact same lenght!

So, the only difference is that the one you are looking at has counterflow of water, or so I recall.

Is a CO2 bell out of the question?



I use one of these on my planted tank (at the far end from the trickle filter) and the plants just eat it up. I can't tell you how much distance is involved, but the bubbles get smashed into 'dust' and spread outward from the sponge very, VERY quickly.

not to sound like an idiot, but Timmain42, where can i find that diffuser? what is the brand/model number?

are you using it with DIY yeast CO2 or pressurized?

Mantis, I am wondering the exact same thing as you, I'm glad you posed your question. Thanks

Just call me Timm.

I found that piece of equip. on the FloridaDriftwood.Com site under 'CO2 Equip." I use pressurized CO2, but at a rate far less than I originally anticipated (go figure).

http://www.floridadriftwood.com/product.asp?0=217&1=253&3=147

I guess the advantage would be that the CO2's exposure to/and introduction into the water column is very long. It's hard to describe, but the gas doesn't follow a path and hope to be absorbed into the water, it is broken into tiny chunks by the powerhead on top of the bell, and continually rebroken until the bubbles are small enough to pass through the sponge.

Basically, I'm saying that CO2 doesn't escape the bell until it is of a useful size. It almost looks like smoke, coming out from under the bell.

That size is a little big for your tank. I think it's rated for up to
120 gal or something. The qqua botanic store has a real small little reactor. Its not on there web site but you can give a call
Its called a vortex mini reactor.

Before you buy anything else

Before you go assuming that the Hagen diffuser won't be enough, you need to try it. Be sure to test your pH and KH before and after.


People seem to get all out of whack because they can see a bit of a bubble left at the end of the hagen ramp. If you'll pull out the old math books and find the volume of a sphere calculations (or go here and run through what happens to the volume as the diameter goes from 4 to 1, for example, you'll see that you are getting really high diffusion, even though you can still see the bubble, actually 98% of it is gone. I don't know why folks get so peeved at 2% being left, if the starting bubble was smaller and it was reduced to 2% it would look like.... smoke, if you could see it at all.


I have Hagens and DIY vortex reactors. Given the same filter, they seem to do about the same, sometimes the Hagen gave a lower pH, sometimes the vortex. The Hagen would waste gas if a DIY bottle gave bubbles that were too large (double bubbles) while the vortex rarely wasted that. I do see large bubbles escape the DIY vortex from time to time, but I think that is my poor sponge choice at fault. The Hagen bottle never gives double bubbles.

If you find that you don't have the CO2 levels that you want, you may find that you are actually more limited by the CO2 that your filter blows off, assuming it is a HOB filter, than the efficency of the Hagen diffuser. When starting out, do start with the middle or upper settings for the depth of the input line on the Hagen diffuser. Depending on your water, it is possible to overdose. Test the water before you lower the line to a deeper level.